This recipe was inspired by my baking teacher, Ma Baker. My son does not have much of a sweet tooth but he loves Biscoff. What is Biscoff? It’s a spread, like Nutella, but it seems to be lovely biscuits combined with butter and sugar to make a smooth paste. Once my son knew Biscoff Babka was a thing, I had to make it for him. I adapted this recipe from Astrid Field of the Sweet Rebellion. Her recipe is much more elaborate than mine with the addition of sugar syrup and a Biscoff cookie topping. Looks amazing but too sweet for my son’s tastes.

Babka is a traditional Eastern European dough, rich and slightly sweet with a swirl of filling through it. You can fill your babka with any sweet filling: Nutella, cinnamon, peanut butter, jam. And as it turns out – Biscoff. This recipe makes two loaves but you won’t be sorry that there’s extra. It freezes nicely but my experience is that it doesn’t hang around enough to need freezing.

The braiding and rolling instructions seem complicated but don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect; no one but you will know what it was supposed to look like. Here’s a video on braiding babka, worth a watch before you start.

Let’s get baking.

Instructions

• 525 grams bread flour
• 10 grams yeast
• 50 grams brown sugar
• 50 grams white sugar
• 5 grams of salt
• 250 mls milk
• 100 grams unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 jar of Biscoff, 500 grams
  
• 1 egg for washing the dough
• 50 grams of butter to soften the crust after baking

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in the microwave. Combine with the milk and set to one side to cool for about 5 minutes
2. Combine the flour, sugars, yeast and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix well.
3. Beat the eggs with the vanilla, add to the milk and butter mixture. The mixture should be just warm or room temperature.
4. Put the dough hook on the mixer, start it turning at slow speed with the dry ingredients.
5. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture with the dough hook turning slowly. When the ingredients are well combined, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 6 to 8 minutes.
6. Scrape the sides and bottom to make sure all ingredients are incorporated.
7. The dough will be relatively sticky so handle with care. Tip onto a well floured surface, form into a ball and place in a well oiled bowl. Cover with cling film or a shower cap.
8. Allow the dough to rise for 3 to 4 hours then refrigerate to continue rising. If possible, allow it rise overnight in the refrigerator but a minimum pf 2 hours to firm up the dough. It should have doubled in size.
9. Once the dough is ready, warm the Biscoff either in a bowl of warm water or in the microwave to make it easier to spread.
10. Prep your loaf pans – line them with parchment paper or you will have a sticky mess. Greasing the pans is not sufficient because some Biscoff will leak out and try to bond with your pans.
11. Divide the dough into two halves. Flour your worktop. I have a marble slab and an alternative if you have stone worktops is to lightly oil them with coconut oil or another relatively flavourless oil.
12. Pat or roll the dough into a 30 cm by 20 cm rectangle with the long side towards you. Cover the dough with half the Biscoff, leaving a margin of about a centimetre around the edges. Roll the dough carefully into a cylinder.
13. Cut the cylinder down its length, leaving about 5 cms at the top uncut. PInch the cut edges together to keep the filling inside. Braid the two pieces together by passing one over the top of the other and repeating. Try not to stretch the pieces as you’re braiding. Once the braiding is complete – compress the length so it fits in your loaf pan and place in the pans.
14. Repeat with the second half of the dough.
15. Lightly cover the pans with either a tea towel or a shower cap for the second rise of 1 to 2 hours. The dough will puff up but will not double in size.
16. Preheat the oven to 180C.
17. Beat the egg with a pinch of salt and generously brush the tops of the loaves immediately before placing inn the oven. Bake the loaves for 30 to 35 minutes
18. Remove from oven when golden brown. Brush the tops with butter to ensure a soft top to the loaves.
19. Cool and enjoy.
    
    

Thanks for reading the blog, cooking the recipes, sharing your photos and your feedback. Find me on Instagram and Twitter @mamadolson .

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Tags: babkabiscoffbiscoff babkabraided sweet bread